EgypAir Receives Its First A330 Monday

Air travel in south Asia and the middle east seems to be driving a lot of the business for airplane makers these days, and two announcements Monday serve to make that point.

India-based GoAirlines said it is asking Airbus to push delivery of 10 aircraft by a year so that it can capitalize on a surge in air travel in that country. The Wall Street Journal reports that CEO Kaushik Khona said in a news conference that "I can improve my operations and bottom line," by getting the airplanes ahead of schedule.

India's air travel market is expected to continue to grow, showing a 21 percent increase since the middle of last year. GoAirlines ordered 20 Airbus aircraft in 2007, and hopes the planemaker can deliver the 10 remaining airliners in March 2013 rather than waiting until April 2014.

GoAirlines only serves the domestic market in India. "(T)here is a lot to be exploited here," Khona said.

In Egypt,  EgyptAir has received its first Airbus A330-300 aircraft from the Airbus facility in Toulouse, France. 

Joining EgyptAir’s existing Airbus fleet of 17 A320 family aircraft, seven A330-200s and three A340-200s, the new A330-300 will be the first EgyptAir aircraft to feature onboard communications technology, enabling passengers to benefit from in flight mobile phone services and WI-FI Internet access.

“This delivery is an important milestone in the history of EgyptAir .We will continue to bring the latest to our customers who deserve this premium and highly competitive product” said Eng. Hussein Massoud, Chairman and CEO of EgyptAir Holding Company. He added “we are determined on the ambitious plan for fleet expansion and modernisation.”

Captain Alaa Ashour, the Chairman and CEO of EgyptAir Airlines, who flew the new aircraft himself to Cairo said “the delivery of the first Airbus A330-300 will add value to our customers and launches new services for the first time in EgyptAir.”

In the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA), Airbus has sold around 1000 aircraft and has a backlog of over 500. More than 500 Airbus aircraft are flying with 48 MENA operators, representing around 40% percent of the fleet in service in the region.

FMI: www.airbus.com